MONDAY 19 JUNE 2017

Hrithik didn’t want another remake after ‘Knight and Day’: Siddharth

MARKETPLACE | 7 HEALTH | 10Blue Salon unveils

Aigner & Sabah Arbilli tie-up

Parkinson’s begins in gut cells:

Study

Email: dohatoday@pen.com.qa

anotherht and

MARB

Aigne

BOLLYWOOD | 11

P | 4-5

Corner shops, markets and street traders are still the traditional way most Senegalese do their shopping, but micro-businesses are turning to digital means of tracking clients in the west African nation’s informal economy.

GOING GOING DIGITALDIGITAL

CAMPUSMONDAY 19 JUNE 2017 03Rajagiri School organises closing ceremony of Environment Week

The students of Grade 1 and 2 organised a color-ful function to mark the closing of Environment Week at Rajagiri. Apart

from excellent speeches by Akshit Sumesh of 2B and Tanish of 1 D, students of 2 D presented a skit to highlight the importance of trees in nature and our responsibility to protect them in order to save life. Their slogan ‘stand for what you stand on’ helped them carry the message home.

Qatar-Finland International School holds end of year celebrations The Qatar-Finland Interna-

tional School held their annual end of year celebra-

tions on June 15. The grade 2 and 4 choir and the teacher’s band opened the ceremony with a rous-ing rendition of ‘the Circus is coming to town’.

Students were shown the importance of practicing skills through a scene with the world’s saddest clown who desperately wanted to join the circus. The audi-ence was then treated to an array of acrobats, jugglers and tightrope walkers. If that wasn’t enough, we

got to see strongmen, lions and hula hoops. For the final circus act, the stage exploded with colour as rib-bon dancers, magicians and clowns stole the limelight.

The importance of Arabic in our school curriculum was highlighted in a touching scene, showing a young apprentice learning how to tame a lion with his Arabic speak-ing master.

The lion theme continued as Grade 4 showed their incredible choreography skills with a dance routine set to Katy Perry’s ‘Roar’. The stars of the show performed

one final encore before parading the hall to earn their well-deserved standing ovation.

Cuteness was provided by the school’s philosophical grade 0s. In what has become a yearly tradition, the grade 6 students were given roses by their grade 0 friends to mark their graduation into the upper school. They then contem-plated their future years with an adorable version of ‘Que Sera, Sera’.One of the school’s shining stars, Jyry, spoke very little English when he started last year. He gave a won-derful, articulate and confident

speech to thunderous applause. It was a tough act to follow but Mr Repo gave a final speech to all those assembled. The teachers wanted their own share of the spotlight and gave a performance of traditional Finnish instrumental music to round off the day.

The Finnish educational system is regarded as one of the best in the world. Qatar-Finland International School offers the best educational practices from Finland and a Finn-ish curriculum in English. From this September, the school will teach students from Grade 0-Grade 8.

COVER STORY MONDAY 19 JUNE 201704

Senegal’s corner shops go digitalDakar

AFP

Corner shops, markets and street traders are still the traditional way most Senegalese do their shopping, but micro-

businesses are turning to digital means of tracking clients in the west African nation’s informal economy.

Amadou Bawol Bah, like many owners of the corner “boutiques” in Senegal, used to have a large ledger he filled in each day with purchases and credit offered to his customers.

“One day I was filling in some details and some cooking oil tipped onto the ledger,” he recalled of the moment in 2015 that wiped out years of careful bookkeeping.

Bawol Bah’s disaster became the inspiration for a locally-designed app called “Weebi”, meaning “easy” in the local Pulaar language, and the trader hasn’t looked back since downloading it.

“Weebi simplifies sales and my invoices. The tablet and smart-phone replaces the notebook and pen,” explained Weebi’s co-founder Cheikh Sene, who began his

start-up with two other Senegalese and a Frenchman.

A micro-printer for receipts completes the mix, Sene added.

App ambitions

Around half of Senegal’s regis-tered businesses are one-man traders like Bawol Bah, according to government statistics, and oper-ate at thin margins with clients often reliant on credit paid back at

the end of the month.In the case of accidents like

Bawol Bah’s, the app comes with confidential backup for each user, according to Weebi, so data remains safe in case of loss or damage to a device.

After winning a prize for digital innovation at the Africa-France summit held in Bamako in January, Weebi’s ambitions are growing in the capital.

Although just 40 users so far have the app, which is a standalone download or can be bought for 118,000 FCFA ($200) preloaded onto a tablet, 300 clients have shown an interest in the product in the Dakar area.

Marieme Assietou Diagne, who manages a health food delivery business, says she has gained “more free time and better sales” since using the software.

“It helps us to follow clients —who are the regulars, the number of orders, and how many meals we are selling per day,” she said. “We can reward loyal customers at the end of the month.”

COVER STORYMONDAY 19 JUNE 2017 05

Overcoming illiteracy Other small business owners

have begun using “Somtou”, a con-sole launched in May with an interface specifically designed for Senegal’s majority illiterate popu-lation that works with icons and voice commands.

The upstart costs of buying a laptop and the electricity required

to run it all day are prohibitive for most, and training in accountancy programmes or software such as Microsoft Excel hard to come by without paying for classes.

With sturdy casing and bright graphics, Somtou is aimed squarely at market traders and small busi-nesses, said its Cameroonian creator Ted Boulou. “It allows those in the

informal sector to manage their work more effectively, and gives them more precise estimates of income, revenue and clients,” Bou-lou said. That can empower them to better bargain wholesale costs and promotions, making businesses more effective, he added, while fil-ing of tax returns and other government documents became

simpler and more accurate.Pricing is also flexible for cli-

ents without much upfront cash.“Some will pay 13,000 FCFA

($22) per month for two years, or 500 FCFA (85 US cents) a day for two years,” Boulou explained, as the single payment of 275,000 FCFA was prohibitive for many — and he has taken 100 orders.

MARKETPLACE MONDAY 19 JUNE 201706

Alfardan Sports Motors, the official dealer of Ferrari and Maserati in Qatar, hosted an exclusive Iftar gathering for its staff at Marsa Malaz Kempinski, in line with the

spirit of giving that marks the holy month of Ramadan.

The dealership brought together staff mem-bers from various departments including workers and technicians of the after-sales serv-ice centre for a team appreciation Iftar gathering at the luxury hotel’s palatial Ramadan tent. Attendees took this opportunity to enrich their ties by understanding the important role that each one plays in the organisation to achieve a unified goal of service excellence and cus-tomer satisfaction. The event reflected the camaraderie between employees, regardless of their diverse roles, as they bonded over the traditional flavours of the festive occasion.

“The Holy Month of Ramadan inspires us to think beyond ourselves. Alfardan Sports Motors is pleased to host a private Iftar for our staff as we focus on honouring and appreciating their

sincere efforts towards building the brand. Our success stems from our people. We are grateful for their hard work and dedication, and hope to bring a smile on their faces by recognising their support and respect for the values of work in every possible way. We wish our staff a prosperous Ramadan,” said Charly Dagher, General Manager of Ferrari and Maserati Qatar at Alfardan Sports

Motors.Alfardan Sports Motors continuously strives

to deliver automotive excellence standards to Qatar for both Maserati and Ferrari. Apart from introducing world-class products and services, the dealership is committed towards social responsibility by organising year-round activ-ities for its staff and the community.

Holiday Villa Doha holds thanksgiving SuhoorIn celebration of the Holy Month of Ramadan

and the coming 8th anniversary of Holiday Villa Hotel & Residence Doha, the manage-

ment recently hosted a thanksgiving Suhoor for its clients, partners, suppliers and the media.

With the Southeast Asian serene ambiance of the Emerald Ballroom, the gathering brought a fusion of Asian Ramadan experience and inter-national dining to its delighted guests.

General Manager Joey Chen and the

management interacted with the travel trade, corporate clients, media, embassies and part-ners to thank them for their unwavering support and the attendees were thrilled with a gastro-nomic fair of unforgettable fine mix of signature delicacies. The buffet offered a mouthwatering array of Asian, Arabic, Indian, Oriental and West-ern cuisines. The evening was filled with bursting flavours of delightful treats and good conversations.

Chen said, “Ramadan has always given us the opportunity to share our banquets with the people who have supported Holiday Villa Doha all these years and this suhoor enabled us to thank them for always believing in our services. The management and the staff are pleased and grateful to our partners for being part of the hotel’s each and every milestone.”

Holiday Villa Hotel & Residence Doha offers 357 lavishly designed hotel rooms and 396 fully furnished serviced apartments. Guest highly commendable and delectable featured dishes during the event are served daily for Iftar and Suhoor from sunset to 2:00am at the Lagenda International Restaurant located at the ground floor of the hotel. For reservations and inquir-ies, call + 974 4408 4220/4230 or email fnb-assist@holidayvilladoha.com. Visit www.holidayvilladoha.com

Holiday Villa Doha GM with distinguished ambassadors who attended the Suhoor event.

Alfardan Sports Motors honours staff with Iftar

MARKETPLACE / COMMUNITYMONDAY 19 JUNE 2017 07

Blue Salon unveils Aigner & Sabah Arbilli tie-up

Following the success of the first instal-ment of Blue Salon’s Fashion Meets Art partnership, AIGNER is collaborating with Blue Salon and the famous Iraq-British artist Sabah Arbilli for a

consecutive year. Arbilli creates exceptional ‘Painted Artworks’ on AIGNER’s It Bags, adding a new life to the pieces. Renowned for the use of modern and Arabic calligraphy, Sabah Arbi-lli uses various techniques and silhouettes of Arabic letters to create unique pieces for a per-sonal approach to fashion.

This year’s theme is ‘Beyond the Norms of Luxury’ and AIGNER held a VIP event on 13th at Blue Salon, where Guests were given the chance to schedule private consultations with the art-ist to personalize their AIGNER bag. Among the attendees was a number of well-known influ-encers and bloggers in attendance, as well as, the esteemed members of the press.

Mannai Corporation hosts Iftar for staff

Mannai Corporation held the traditional Iftar for all its employees. Several members of the manage-ment team attended the Iftar along with

employees from the various Mannai Group of companies. The annual Iftar reception is an occasion to acknowledge the contribution of all the employees. Alekh Grewal, Man-nai Corporation Group CEO and Director, said, “This annual tradition of Iftar serves as an informal setting to establish better relations socially among our company employees and management while practicing the spirit of sharing and solidarity.”

Indian Cultural Centre conducts community Iftar

Indian Cultural Centre (ICC) con-ducted Iftar for the community leaders, heads of affiliated organ-

isations, embassy officials and representatives from the Ministry of Interior. The Iftar was attended by the Indian Ambassador P Kumaran, ICC President Milan Arun, President of Indian Community Benevolent Forum Davis Edukulathur, President of Indian Business and Profession-als Network K M Varghese, Indian Sports Center President Nilangshu Dey. The Ministry of Interior was represented by Lt. Ibrahim Muhammed Abdul Azees Al Bin Ali,

Discipline officer at Al Faza Police, Lt Jassim Muhammed Al Ansari and Warrant Officer Abdul Muhsin Al Ruwaily from Traffic department, Warrant officer Ali Hassan Al Kurbi from civil defense and Faisal Al Hudawi from Public Relations department.

Ambassador P Kumaran during his addressed mentioned that the message of Ramadan is applicable to all community and the values such as piety, charity, etc needs to be inculcated by all in their life. ICC President Milan Arun, Warrant Officer Abdul Muhsin Al Ruwaily

addressed the gathering. Ziad Ahmed Azadi gave a special Ram-adan message for the gathering. ICC General Secretary Juttas Paul

welcomed the gathering and ICC Head of Premises Niyaz Ahmed pro-posed vote of thanks and led people for prayers.

Pic: Baher Amin / The Peninsula

FOOD MONDAY 19 JUNE 201708

Kristen HartkeThe Washington Post

The natural creaminess of avocado provides the perfect texture for this tart pie filling, with the added bonus that it

requires no stovetop cooking.If you can’t find Key limes, you

can substitute regular limes or even use bottled Key lime juice — just don’t forget the fresh lime zest.

6 to 8 servings (makes one 9-inch pie)

Make Ahead: The baked, cooled crust needs to be refrigerated for 1 hour before using. It can be tightly wrapped in its dish and frozen for up to 2 weeks. Defrost before using. The assembled pie needs to be refrigerated for at least 2 hours, and

preferably overnight.

IngredientsFor the crust2 cups finely ground graham

cracker crumbs (from about 10 squares)

1/4 cup sugarScant 1/4 teaspoon sea salt2/3 cup coconut oil (liquefied)

or unsalted butter, meltedFor the fillingFlesh of 2 ripe Hass avocados,

smashed (2 cups; may use fresh or frozen/defrosted)

4 teaspoons finely grated zest and

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh juice (from about 5 Key limes)

1/2 cup sweetened condensed coconut milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extractPinch saltWhipped cream, for garnish

(optional)

Finely grated lime zest and/or thin lime wheels, for garnish (optional)

StepsFor the crust: Preheat the oven

to 350 degrees.Combine the graham cracker

crumbs, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add the oil or melted butter and stir until the crumbs are evenly coated, with the consistency of wet sand.

Use a spoon or the underside of a measuring cup to press the mix-ture evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate, Bake (middle rack) for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes, then refrigerate for 1 hour, or until well chilled.

For the filling: Combine the avo-cado, lime zest and juice, condensed milk, vanilla extract and salt in a

blender. Puree until smooth and silky. Transfer the mixture to the chilled crust, then use an offset spatula to spread it smooth and evenly. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and preferably over-night, before serving.

Garnish with whipped cream and the lime zest and thin lime wheels, if using.

Nutrition: Per serving (based on 8, using coconut oil in the crust): 410 calories, 3 g protein, 34 g car-bohydrates, 30 g fat, 22 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 280 mg sodium, 4 g dietary fiber, 16 g sugar

Nutrition: Per serving (based on 8, using butter in the crust): 380 calories, 3 g protein, 34 g carbohy-drates, 27 g fat, 14 g saturated fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 280 mg sodium, 4 g dietary fiber, 16 g sugar.

Avocado key lime pie

FOODMONDAY 19 JUNE 2017 09Joe YonanThe Washington Post

Serve on buns, with your favorite accompaniments.

18 servings

Make Ahead: The uncooked burger mixture can be refriger-ated for up to 1 week. The formed, baked patties can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 year; reheat them in the microwave or pan-fry them.

Ingredients7 tablespoons vegetable oil2 large onions, chopped (4

cups)2 pounds white or cremini

mushrooms4 cups cooked black (prefera-

bly) or brown rice (use vegetable broth homemade or store-bought, not water)

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce1/4 cup tomato paste1/4 cup ketchup3 tablespoons white miso1 1/2 tablespoons dried basil2 teaspoons freshly ground

black pepper1 teaspoon dried thyme1 teaspoon liquid smoke3 to 3 1/2 cups vital wheat

gluten

StepsHeat a large skillet over

medium heat, then add 4 table-spoons of the oil. Once the oil shimmers, add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until sof-tened and well browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the onions to a large mixing bowl. Wipe out the skillet but no need to wash it; you’ll be using it again soon.

Rinse the mushrooms and use dish towels to dry them thoroughly. Trim and coarsely chop them, then transfer to a food processor. Puree, working in batches, and add them to the onions as you work.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Add the rice, soy sauce, tomato paste, ketchup, white miso, dried basil, pepper, thyme and liquid smoke to the mixing bowl, blend-ing them in thoroughly with your clean hands.

Sprinkle the wheat gluten evenly over the mix. Immediately and vigorously work in the gluten, again using your hands. (Gluten starts to set up almost instantly when it comes into contact with moisture, so work as fast — and as

thoroughly — as you can.) The mixture will very quickly

change texture and become stretchy. If the mixture seems too wet and not stretchy enough, sprinkle on a more wheat gluten, 1/4 cup at a time, and knead it in until the desired texture is achieved.

Use a heaping 1/2 cup of the mixture to form patties about 1/2 inch thick, arranging them on bak-ing sheets as you work. Bake until they firm up slightly, about 20 minutes.

Set your skillet over medium-high heat, then add the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil. Once the oil shimmers, use a spatula to gently transfer three or four patties to the

pan (working in batches, as needed) and cook until the under-sides are dark brown and crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip them carefully and repeat.

NOTE: In testing, we found that the burgers held better together when baked first, then pan-fried, but you can skip the pan-frying step for the burgers you want to make immediately, then bake the remainder before refrig-erating or freezing for another time.

Nutrition: Per burger: 260 cal-ories, 18 g protein, 33 g carbohydrates, 6 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 350 mg sodium, 3 g dietary fiber, 4 g sugar.

Vegan burgers

HEALTH MONDAY 19 JUNE 201710

Parents’ exposure to chemicals often used as disinfectants and preservatives in house-

hold and personal products such as detergents, shampoos and condi-tioners may be associated with birth defects in children, researchers have warned.

The study, conducted on both mice and rats, showed that the chemicals — known as quaternary ammonium compounds or “quats”

— can lead to birth defects of the brain, spine or spinal cord.

“These chemicals are regularly used in the home, hospitals, public spaces and swimming pools,” said Terry Hrubec, Associate Professor at the Edward Via College of Oste-opathic Medicine (VCOM) in Virginia, US.

“Birth defects were seen when both males and females were exposed, as well as when only one

parent was exposed,” Hrubec added. For the study, detailed in the

journal Birth Defects Research, the team investigated the effect of two commonly used quats - alkyl dime-thyl benzyl ammonium chloride and didecyl dimethyl ammonium

chloride. These are often listed on ingre-

dient lists as ADBAC and DDAC respectively, and are valued for their antimicrobial and antistatic properties, as well as their ability to lower surface tension.

These are used as common ingredients in cleaners and disin-fectants, hand wipes, food preservatives, swimming pool treatments, laundry products, shampoos, conditioners, eye drops and other personal care products.

Exposure to these chemicals also resulted in birth defects same as the defects as found in humans

— spina bifida and anencephaly.In addition, mice and rats did

not even need to be dosed with the chemicals to see the effect, but sim-ply using quat-based cleaners in the same room as the mice was enough to cause birth defects. “We also observed increased birth defects in rodents for two generations after stopping exposure,” Hrubec noted.

Although the study was con-ducted on mice and rats, these chemicals may be toxic to humans as well, the researchers said.

Scientists have found that exposure to just 10 minutes of light at night sup-presses biting and manipulates flight

behaviour of malaria mosquitoes.Critical behaviours exhibited by the spe-

cies, such as feeding, egg-laying and flying, are time-of-day specific, including a greater propensity for night-time biting. While insec-ticide-treated bed nets and walls have helped prevent bites and reduce malaria, mosqui-toes are adapting to preventive conditions, leaving adults and children vulnerable in the early evening and early morning hours -- when they are not under the nets or in the house.

“We need to discover new methods to address mosquito control and prevention. The systems and tools we currently have including global distribution and usage of insecticide-treated bed nets and spraying are not enough,” said Giles Duffield, Associ-ate Professor at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, US. The findings, published in the journal Parasites and Vectors, suggests that light can be used to manipulate mosquitoes.

For the study, Duffield and his team tested the mosquitoes’ preference to bite dur-ing their active host-seeking period by

separating them into multiple control and test batches.

Control mosquitoes were kept in the dark, while test batches were exposed to a pulse of white light for 10 minutes. Researchers then tested the propensity of the mosquitoes to bite immediately after the pulse and every two hours throughout the night, holding their arms to a mesh lining that allowed uninfected mosquitoes to feed while remaining contained.

Results indicated a significant suppres-sion. In another experiment, mosquitoes were pulsed with light every two hours, and using this multiple pulse approach the team found that biting could be suppressed during a large portion of the 12-hour night.

“Most remarkable is the prolonged effect a short light treatment has on their prefer-ence to bite, with suppression lasting as long as four hours after the pulse,” Duffield said.

“This may prove to be an effective tool that complements established control meth-ods used to reduce disease transmission,” Duffield added.

Pulses of light would probably be more effective than constant exposure, Duffield said, as the mosquitoes would be less likely to adapt to light presented in periodic doses.

Chemicals found in detergents & shampoos linked to birth defects

Short light treatment may reduce mosquito bites at night

Parkinson’s begins in gut cells: Study

Scientists have found that malformation in a protein found in the gut cells may contrib-ute to the onset as well as spread of

Parkinson’s disease. Alpha-synuclein is the main component of Lewy bodies, or toxic protein depos-its that take up residence in brain cells, killing them from the inside. The study from Duke Uni-versity in the US identified the alpha-synuclein protein, which when deformed leads to damag-ing clumps in the brains of Parkinson’s patients, as well as those with Alzheimer’s disease.

Once altered in the gut, the protein travels to the brain, where it causes the symptoms of Parkin-son’s disease, the researchers said in the paper published in the journal JCI Insight. “There is abun-dant evidence that misfolded alpha-synuclein is found in the nerves of the gut before it appears in the brain, but exactly where this misfolding occurs is unknown,” said Rodger Liddle, Professor at Duke.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive move-ment disorder, affecting as many as seven million to 10 million people worldwide, according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation.

“Unfortunately, there aren’t great treatments for Parkinson’s disease right now,” Liddle said, adding “it’s conceivable down the road that there could be ways to prevent alpha-synuclein mis-folding, if you can make the diagnosis early.”

BOLLYWOODMONDAY 19 JUNE 2017 11

Actor Randeep Hooda says one should not be scared to go after one’s dreams as

“regrets are worse than mistakes”. Asked what advice he would like to give to youngsters, Randeep said:

“Do what your heart desires, because there is nothing called talent in the world ... there is only enthusiasm.”

“Anything that you are enthu-siastic about, you are going to excel at. But don’t be disrespectful (towards your parents). Do not wake up later in your life when your parents are gone and say, ‘Why I didn’t do this’. Regrets are worse than mistakes,” he added.

Hailing from Rohtak, in Hary-ana, Randeep spent almost six years in Australia as a student and worked as a taxi driver at night. He got his first break in 2001 with Mira Nair’s “Monsoon Wedding” due to his Australian accent.

Randeep followed up his act with “D” in 2005, but faced a set-back due to a string of flops. Back then, he was in the news more for his relationship with actress and

former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen than for his work. The actor bounced back with Milan Luthria’s “Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai” in 2010.

His filmography is studded with projects like “Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster”, “Jism 2”, “Highway”,

“Kick”, “Sarbjit”, “Sultan”, “Laal Rang”, “Main Aur Charles” and

“Rang Rasiya”. He also debuted on the small screen as the host of

“MTV Big F Season 2” this year. The 40-year-old is prepping

up for the historical drama “The Battle of Saragarhi” in which he will be seen essaying the role of a Sikh character.

Bollywood is quite heady: Huma Qureshi

Actress Huma Qureshi says Bollywood is “quite heady” and it is very difficult to brace up for the journey in the industry. “I was prepared in my own way (about the constant public scrutiny).

But the industry is quite heady. You can’t really prepare for it,” Huma said. After doing some short films, Huma, who hails from Delhi, came into the spotlight with Anurag Kashyap’s dark thriller “Gangs of Was-seypur - Part 2” in 2012. She has delivered hits like “Ek Thi Daayan”,

“Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana”, “Badlapur” and “Jolly LLB 2”, but failed to generate the expected response with films like “Dedh Ishqiya” and “D-Day”. The actress, who was last seen in horror film “Dobaara: See Your Evil”, says she tries to focus on her work and “do the best to my ability”. On the career front, Huma believes in taking “things as they come”. She is also harbouring Hollywood dreams. Asked if she wants to head to the West, she said: “Hopefully.” “(I’m waiting for the) right film and right script to come along,” said the actress, who audi-tioned for the third instalment of “The Mummy” franchise last year.

‘Baahubali 2’: 50 days & still going strong

Filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli’s magnum opus “Baahubali 2: The Con-clusion” celebrated its 50th day of run in cinemas on Friday. The film is still running to packed houses in over 1,000 screens in the

country. In an official poster released by the makers, it has been men-tioned that the film celebrates its 50th day run in 1,050 screens across the country. Having amassed over Rs2,000 crore worldwide and still counting, “Baahubali 2” has crushed box office records by Indian films. Across several regions in the country, “Baahubali 2” has set new records at the ticket window. Starring Prabhas and Rana Daggubati as the male protagonists, the film’s story is about the battle for the ownership of an ancient kingdom between two brothers. The film, released in Tel-ugu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam, also stars Anushka Shetty, Ramya Krishnan, Tamannaah Bhatia and Sathyaraj.

Hrithik Roshan would have been “great” to play the title role in the Indian remake

of Hollywood film “Rambo” but the actor was not keen to do another remake after “Bang Bang!”, the offi-cial adaptation of “Knight and Day”, says director Siddharth Anand.

Siddharth had directed Hrithik in “Bang Bang!” and they share a good camaraderie. For the “Rambo” remake, the director roped in Tiger Shroff and feels he is the “apt choice”.

“Hrithik and I have an equation or a relationship which is of great trust and respect, and the fact is that we are constantly talking about doing something together. We almost did ‘Fighter’ together, which

eventually didn’t happen last year. “Also Hrithik would be really a

great choice for a character like Rambo but he didn’t want to do another remake after ‘Knight and Day’. So we’re working on some-thing else,” Siddharth told IANS over phone from Mumbai.

Siddharth has worked on two films each with Saif Ali Khan and Ranbir Kapoor back to back. His debut directorial “Salaam Namaste” and the following film “Ta Ra Rum Pum” was with Saif, while his sub-sequent projects “Bachna Ae Haseeno” and “Anjaana Anjaani” were with Ranbir. So, one was hop-ing he would keep the pattern going with Hrithik after “Bang Bang!”.

Siddharth said: “Hopefully, we

will have something to do together very soon. ‘Rambo’ is not that. I chat with Hrithik on everything I do. He’s one of the first people to know whenever I do something. He’s more like an elder brother to me.”

He spoke about casting an actor for the desi “Rambo”. “After we completed the script, we deliber-ated a lot on the casting. It could draw a lot of polarised opinion on the casting because you take Syl-vester Stallone and say this guy is going to portray a character immor-talised by Stallone. It’s too big a shoe to fill in, too big a responsibility.

“And so we had to get somebody who would be the apt choice. I was certain I wanted a young boy for it. Tiger felt just a natural choice for

us. Fortunately, he loved it and came on board,” Siddharth said.

The audience can look forward to some high-octane action from the movie, which is likely to go on floors in February 2018.

Hrithik didn’t want another remake after ‘Knight and Day’: Siddharth

Randeep Hooda: Regrets are worse than mistakes

ENTERTAINMENT MONDAY 19 JUNE 201712

Ryan Reynolds builds up buzz for ‘Deadpool 2’

Actor Ryan Reynolds had a treat for “Dead-pool” fans when he shared on social media an image from the film’s set. Reynolds posted

a photo of himself in Deadpool costume, lying out-side the X-Mansion, which had played a small part in the first “Deadpool” as the home of Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, reported ew.com.

“Dropped by X-Mansion. Looked closely for Beast’s lawn bombs before taking well deserved nap,” Reynolds wrote on Instagram. On Facebook, he cap-tioned the same photo, “Now filming Deadpool 2: Xavier’s Lust”. On Twitter, he poked fun at the big reveal: “Big f**ing surprise. No one’s home.” News around the new Marvel Comics anti-hero film has been ramping up. Actor Josh Brolin has been shar-ing details on his transformation into Cable via social media. “Deadpool 2” has a June 1, 2018, release date.

AFP

Pop diva Beyonce and her rap mogul husband Jay Z have wel-comed twins, according to US

media reports on the two new mem-bers of music’s royal family that already includes five-year-old Blue Ivy.

News that the songstress had given birth, reported by entertainment out-lets including People magazine and US Weekly, ignited social media, with the so-called “Bey hive” fan group buzz-ing over the yet unrevealed sexes and names of the latest additions to the Carter Clan. US Weekly cited multiple unidentified sources as saying that the twins were born earlier this week. Enter-tainment news outlet E!, also citing unidentified sources, said the couple had been spotted at a Los Angeles area hospital on Thursday.

Speculation grew when an unidentified woman was photographed on Friday carrying a large bouquet of pink, blue and purple flow-ers — complete with a card that appeared to read

“B + J” — along with twin pink and blue balloons in the shape of feet that read “Baby Girl” and

“Baby Boy”. Superstar Beyonce in February made the

blockbuster reveal that she was expecting. “We would like to share our love and happiness. We have been blessed two times over,” the 35-year-old singer wrote. “We are incredibly grateful that our family will be growing by two, and we thank you for all your well wishes,” she added, sign-ing with Jay Z.

Speculation that Beyonce’s due date had approached was fueled earlier this week when husband Jay Z, 47, was absent at the Songwrit-ers Hall of Fame. The rapper, who grew up as Sean Carter, took to Twitter to thank artists who had influenced him as well as former US presi-dent Barack Obama.

Obama hailed the hip-hop mogul — who campaigned actively with Beyonce for the first African-American president — as a kindred spirit at the event in a surprise appearance by video.

“Jay and I are also fools for our daughters, although he’s going to have me beat once those twins show up,” the former president and father of two joked. Some fans clamoring for details on the twins took Obama’s aside as a hint that the babies might be girls.

But despite rumblings and guessing games no

concrete details regarding sexes or names of the babies have been revealed. Beyonce and Jay Z are among the most commer-cially successful figures in music, with a combined net worth at $1bn.

As an expectant mother Beyonce made a New Age celebration of women at the Grammy Awards earlier this year

— putting on an extravagant, abstract per-formance while proudly displaying her baby bump cloaked in a flowing gold gown. She pulled out of her headlining spot at April’s Coachella music festival in southern California, however, on the advice of her doctors. She still made a number of red carpet appearances while carrying the twins and documented her pregnancy via social media — to the joy

of her adoring fans. Beyonce’s mic-drop pregnancy announcement

had triggered intrigue over the fact that it came a little more than nine months after her last album

“Lemonade” — in which she strongly hinted that Jay Z was unfaithful. One lyric warns an unfaith-ful man of a “final warning” that he’s “gonna lose your wife” if his behavior doesn’t change.

A sullen Jay Z appears at the end of the film to embrace her, suggesting reconciliation. And on the couple’s ninth wedding anniversary in April, Beyonce released an updated video for her romantic ballad “Die With You”.

It features home video-esque footage of ten-der moments between the couple as well as clips from Blue Ivy’s birth and toddler years, ending with a scene of the new big sister of the family kissing her mother’s pregnant belly.

Supermodel Naomi Campbell has wowed fans with her video on social media, which sees her elegantly move

into various positions during her at home yoga session.

In the footage Campbell can be seen stretching out her long limbs and contort-ing her body, as she stretches her back backwards whilst touching her head with her toes, walks her slender legs along the alcove wall in her home, before entering into a split position in the air, reports fema-lefirst.co.uk.

She captioned the clip: “Yoga time.” And Campbell’s post has left her fans in awe of her. One social media user commented on the picture and wrote: “I cant believe what I am seeing. Wow!” Whilst her other

followers have admitted they are inspired to be like Campbell. One wrote: “Hope I can do this sometime in my life (sic).”

However, this is not the first time Naomi has revealed her athletic side to her fans, as early this year she took part in a mara-thon for Running Hearts charity with Natasha Supernova Izabel Goulart and Polina Kitsenko.

Pop superstar Beyonce gives birth to twins

Naomi Campbell wows fans with yoga moves

TECHNOLOGYMONDAY 19 JUNE 2017 13

IANS

In a first, researchers have devel-oped a robot that can write and play its own music compositions

using artificial intelligence and deep learning.

The robot — named Shimon — with four arms and eight sticks can play harmonies and chords on mar-imba. It also thinks much more like a human musician, focussing less on the next note, and more on the overall structure of the composition.

The researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology in the US fed the robot with nearly 5,000 complete songs — from Beethoven to the Beatles to Lady Gaga to Miles Davis — and more than two million motifs, riffs and licks of music.

Aside from giving the machine a seed, or the first four measures to use as a starting point, no humans were involved in either the compo-sition or the performance of the music.

“Once Shimon learns the four measures we provide, it creates its own sequence of concepts and

composes its own piece,” Mason Bretan, doctoral student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, said in a statement.

“Shimon’s compositions repre-sent how music sounds and looks when a robot uses deep neural net-works to learn everything it knows about music from millions of human-made segments,” he added.

As long as the researchers feed

it a different seed, the robot pro-duces something different each time — music that the researchers cannot predict.

In the first piece, Bretan fed Shi-mon a melody comprised of eighth notes. It received a sixteenth note melody the second time, which influenced it to generate faster note sequences.

This leap in Shimon’s musical

quality is because it is using deep learning, which is enabling it to cre-ate a more structured and coherent composition, the researchers said.

Shimon’s debut as a solo com-poser was featured in a 30-minute video clip in the Consumer Elec-tronic Show (CES) keynote and will have its first live performance at the Aspen Ideas Festival at the end of June, the researchers said.

Scientists at Stanford Univer-sity in the US have developed a device that can wirelessly

charge a moving object at close range.

The technology could one day be used to charge electric cars on the highway, or medical implants and cellphones as you walk nearby.

“In addition to advancing the wireless charging of vehicles and personal devices like cellphones, our new technology may untether robotics in manufacturing, which also are on the move,” said Pro-fessor Shanhui Fan.

According to the study, pub-lished in the journal Nature, wireless charging would address a major drawback of plug-in elec-tric cars -- their limited driving

range. A charge-as-you-drive sys-tem would overcome these limitations. “In theory, one could drive for an unlimited amount of time without having to stop to recharge. The hope is that you’ll be able to charge your electric car while you’re driving down the highway,” Fan explained.

He noted that a coil in the bot-tom of the vehicle could receive electricity from a series of coils connected to an electric current embedded in the road.

“We can rethink how to deliver electricity not only to our cars, but to smaller devices on or in our bodies. For anything that could benefit from dynamic, wireless charging, this is potentially very important,” Fan said.

Mid-range wireless power transfer is based on magnetic res-onance coupling.

“Just as major power plants generate alternating currents by rotating coils of wire between magnets, electricity moving through wires creates an oscillat-ing magnetic field which causes electrons in a nearby coil of wires to oscillate, thereby transferring power wirelessly,” the study said.

The team transmitted electric-ity wirelessly to a moving LED lightbulb but the demonstration only involved a one milliwatt charge, far less than what electric cars require.

The scientists are now work-ing on greatly increasing the amount of electricity that can be

transferred, and tweaking the sys-tem to extend the transfer distance and improve efficiency. “We still need to significantly increase the amount of electricity being trans-ferred to charge electric cars, but we may not need to push the dis-tance too much more,” Fan added.

According to the research, the transfer efficiency can be further enhanced if both coils are tuned to the same magnetic resonance frequency and are positioned at the correct angle, but scientists found that was a complex process. To address the challenge, the radio-frequency source in the transmitter was eliminated and replaced it with a commercially available voltage amplifier and feedback resistor.

This robot uses AI to write & play own music

New device can wirelessly charge cellphones & electric cars

BABY BLUES

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

Set in 1950s Tuscany, Voice from the Stone is the haunting and

suspenseful story of Verena, a solemn nurse drawn to aid a young

boy who has fallen silent since the sudden passing of his mother.Note: Programme is subject to change without prior notice.

NOVO — Pearl ROYAL PLAZA

MALL

LANDMARK

The Mummy (2D/Action) 10:00, 11:00am, 12:00noon, 12:40, 1:20, 2:30, 2:40, 3:40, 5:00, 6:00, 7:20, 7:30, 8:20, 9:40, 10:00, 10:45pm & 12:00midnight Outlaws And Angels (2D/Action) 10:00am, 12:15, 2:30, 4:45, 5:00, 9:15 & 11:30pm Bodom (2D/Horror) 11:00am, 1:00, 3:00, 5:00, 7:00, 9:00 & 11:00pm Guardians of The Galaxy 2 (2D/Action) 11:00am, 3:45 & 8:30pm Diary of A Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (2D/Comedy) 1:45, 6:30 & 11:15pm The Boss Baby (2D/Animation) 10:00am, 12:00noon, 2:00 & 4:00pm King Arthur: Legend of The Sword (2D/Action) 6:00, 8:30 & 11:00pm Howard Love Craft And The Frozen Kingdom (2D/Animation) 11:00am, 1:00, 3:00 & 5:00pmAlien Covenant (2D/Action) 7:00, 9:30pm & 12:00midnight Voice From The Stone (2D/Drama) 11:30am, 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30pm& 11:30 The Mummy (3D IMAX/Action) 11:30am, 1:50, 4:10, 6:30, 8:50 & 11:10pm

Raabta (2D/Hindi) 9:00pm The Mummy (2D/Action) 9:30pm Voice From The Stone (2D/Drama) 9:30pmOutlaws And Angels (2D/Action) 11:30pm Puthan Panam (2D/Malayalam) 11:30pmBodom (2D/Horror) 11:45pm

Raabta (2D/Hindi) 9:00pm The Mummy (2D/Action) 9:30 & 11:30pm Puthan Panam (2D/Malayalam) 9:00pmVoice From The Stone (2D/Drama) 11:30pmOutlaws And Angels (2D/Action) 12:00midnight

Raabta (2D/Hindi) 9:00pm The Mummy (2D/Action) 9:30pmPuthan Panam (2D/Malayalam) 9:00 & 11:30pmOutlaws And Angels (2D/Action) 11:30midnight Voice From The Stone (2D/Drama) 12:00midnight

MONDAY 19 JUNE 2017

VILLAGGIO & CITY CENTER

CINEMA PLUS14

AL KHORPuthan Panam (Malayalam) 12:00noon, 3:00, 9:00pm & 12:00midnight The Mummy (Action) 11:30am, 2:00, 9:45pm & 12:15am CIA: Comrade in America (2D/Malayalam) 11:45am, 2:30, 8:30 & 11:15pm

VOICE FROM THE STONE

ASIAN TOWNGodha (Malayalam) 10:30pm CIA: Comrade in America (2D/Malayalam) 8:00 & 10:30pm Puthan Panam (Malayalam) 8:00pm

ROXYDeep (2D/Animation) 3:00, 5:00 & 7:00pmPuthan Panam (Malayalam) 3:00, 6:00, 9:00pm & 12:00midnight The Mummy (Action) 3:00, 5:20, 7:40, 9:40, 10:00pm & 12:15am Raabta (Hindi) 3:00, 6:00, 9:00pm & 12:00midnight Bodom (Horror) 9:00 & 11:00pm

CROSSWORD CONCEPTIS SUDOKU

ALL IN THE MIND

08:00 News08:30 101 East 09:00 A Very Sicilian

Justice 10:30 Inside Story11:00 News11:30 UpFront12:30 Witness13:00 NEWSHOUR14:30 Inside Story15:00 Once Upon

a Time in Punchbowl

16:00 NEWSHOUR17:30 Talk to Al Jazeera18:00 Newsgrid19:00 News19:30 Counting the Cost20:00 News20:30 Inside Story21:00 NEWSHOUR22:00 News22:30 The Stream23:00 The War in

October

13:05 Star Darlings

15:20 Miraculous Tales Of Ladybug And Cat Noir

15:45 Elena Of Avalor

16:10 Liv And Maddie

17:05 Stuck In The Middle

17:30 Bunk’d 18:20 Disney

Mickey Mouse20:40 Bizaardvark 21:05 Evermoor

Chronicles 21:30 Stuck In The

Middle 22:00 Bunk’d 22:25 Miraculous

Tales Of Ladybug And Cat Noir

13:45 Untamed China With Nigel Marven

14:40 Lion Queen15:35 Tanked16:30 Untamed

China With Nigel Marven

18:20 Lone Star Law

20:10 Dr. Jeff: Rocky Mountain Vet

21:05 Animal Cops Houston

23:20 The Lion Man

23:50 Untamed China With Nigel Marven

13:05 How Do They Do It?

14:20 Gold Rush16:00 Gold Divers16:50 Misfit

Garage17:40 Wheeler

Dealers18:30 How Do

They Do It?19:20 What On

Earth?20:10 Container

Wars20:35 Container

Wars21:00 Gold Divers21:50 Shipwreck

Men22:40 Outback

Truckers23:30 Misfit

Garage01:10 Gold Divers02:00 Shipwreck

King Features Syndicate, Inc.

BRAIN TEASERSMONDAY 19 JUNE 2017 15

Yesterday’s answer

Conceptis Sudoku: Conceptis Sudoku

is a number-placing puzzle based on a

9×9 grid. The object is to place the

numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so

that each row, each column and each

3×3 box contains the same number

only once.

APPLE, APRICOT, ARTICHOKE,

ASPARAGUS, AUBERGINE,

BANANA, BEAN, BEETROOT,

BROCCOLI, CABBAGE,

CARROT, CAULIFLOWER,

CELERY, CHERRY, CUCUMBER,

DATE, EGGPLANT, FIG, GRAPE,

GRAPEFRUIT, LEEK, LEGUME,

LEMON, LIME, MANDARIN,

MELON, MUSHROOM, OKRA,

OLIVE, ONION, ORANGE,

PARSNIP, PEA, PEACH, PEAR,

PINEAPPLE, POTATO, PRUNE,

PUMPKIN, RHUBARB, SPINACH,

SPROUT, SQUASH,

STRAWBERRY, TARO, TOMATO,

TURNIP, YAM.